Guacamelee!

“Drinkbox’s third game is a gorgeous bruiser built on old ideas, but stacked with originality.”

Guacamelee isn’t only pretty to look at, it’s also a hell of a lot of fun to play. Its Metroidvania inspiration is undoubtedly strong, and yet it does so much to help it stand apart, not the least of which by providing gamers with a deceivingly deep combat system and a two-world polarity system that simply makes the experience more dynamic. Sure, Guacamelee may be short – too short, in fact – but...

Besides being a brilliant pun, Guacamelee! is a potent mix of platforming and brawling, wrapped-up in a cartoon-styled Mexico. The delightful Metroidvania-inspired adventure takes plenty of props from the greats that solidified the genre, but gracefully manages to maintain its own charm and personality, resulting in a digital download with plenty of bite.

Throwing in a suplex or piledriver for good measure is just an amusing way to relive those pro-wrestling dreams of yesteryear.

There are so many little touches strewn about that even the title's odes to gaming's past are enough to make it worth recommending. That being said, the game still carves its own path, making the Metroidvania genre more accessible than ever. Players that like a little comedy in their games, or who love the games within the Metroid or Castlevania lineage will adore Guacamelee!.

Guacamelee! is not entering a particularly overcrowded pool of similar games on the PSN but lack of competition hasn’t stifled creativity. It’s Drinkbox’s best game so far (and I was a big fan of Mutant Blobs Attack on Vita) and it’s the best combo-brawler on PSN. It’s also one of the best platform puzzlers and one of the best Metroid-vania style games. Not content with that list of “bests”, Guaca...